When One Door Closes
by live2rite
Summary: When tradegy strikes, Rachel's twin sister comes to live with her in Lima ... but is Lima too small for two Rachel Berry's? FINCHEL.
1. Chapter 1

A.N. So Here's my new story, I hope you like it :) I wrote all this before the new ep aired so it's set after Sectional's.

Disclaimer – I wish the show were my idea however no such luck

As always a huge thanks to My Personal Rose for listening to my ramblings despite not being a fan of Finchel :)

From Rite Rose Publishing.

When One Door Closes

Chapter One – When the Wave Breaks ...

Rachel had so far had a perfectly normal day. She got up at 6am as usual, had her protein drink and done her exercise. She had gone to school, had her lessons in English, Math, Biology, World History and Geography before heading to lunch where she sat at the usual table with the rest of Glee. She had flirted a little with Finn, who had flirted back. Their dynamic had changed some since everyone had found out about the real paternity of Quinn's baby but they had yet to approach the idea of dating. She was just telling everyone about the extra rehearsal she was hoping to convince Mr. Schuester about when she saw Miss Pillsbury walking towards them with a serious look on her face. She cleared her voice when she reached them and gave them all a small smile before turning to Rachel.

"Rachel, you need to come with me to the Principal's office." She said softly. Rachel was confused but she picked up her bag and said goodbye to her fellow Glee members before following Miss Pillsbury out of the canteen. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Rachel spoke.

"Miss Pillsbury, is everything ok?" she asked, "Am I in some sort of trouble?"

"No, Rachel not at all, it's just ... well ... I'll explain when we get to Principal Figgins' office." Miss Pillsbury told her quickly. Rachel merely nodded wondering why she would have to wait until she got there and every scenario she thought of was getting progressively more tragic. Had she known what she was going to be told when they arrived, she might have wished for the disbanding of Glee club.

She walked into the office ahead of Miss Pillsbury and noticed that her Daddy was sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Daddy?" she questioned. "What's going on?" she asked looking from one adult to the next.

"Miss Berry, please have a seat." Principal Figgins offered. She sat next to her Daddy and looked at him. He had been crying. Her Daddy never cried, her Papa was always more prone to tears.

"Rachel ..." her Daddy tried to say but her name caught in his throat. Instead her took her nearest hand in both of his, bringing it to his lips to kiss is gently. Miss Pillsbury could see that he wasn't going to be able to get his words out so she took over for him. She rested her hand on her shoulder before she spoke.

"Rachel, I'm afraid we have some bad news." Miss Pillsbury told her but Rachel took one more look at her Daddy and gasped.

"Has something happened to Papa?" she asked quickly.

"No Rachel, it's your birth Mother." Miss Pillsbury told her, "She passed away this morning after being involved in a car crash. I'm sorry Rachel but she's dead."

There was silence in the office, broken only by the single sob that escaped Mr. Berry. Rachel slumped in her seat as she let this news wash over her. Robyn was dead. The woman who she got half her genes from, half her talent was just ... gone. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had always wanted to meet her birth Mom. She loved her Dad's to pieces but there were certain things that only another woman would be able to help with and she had always planned on meeting her when she was eighteen. Her Dad's had always been happy that she was going to. She looked at her Daddy who was still clutching her hand. She knew that they had been close to her during the nine months they had known her but she had never met her since she was one and that didn't count because she didn't remember. She felt kind of numb about the whole thing. She would never get to meet her Mom. And then the other part of this hit her ... and hard.

"What's ..." she cleared her throat. "What's going to happen to Renee?" She asked quietly. At this question her Daddy looked up at her and managed to pull himself together enough to answer. He squeezed her hand once before he finally spoke.

"She's going to come and live with us sweetie. Your ... well your Mom wanted us to care for your sister if anything happened to her."

Rachel blinked. Her twin sister was coming to stay in Lima?

"Where is she?" she asked, not quite knowing what else to ask right now.

"Your Papa has gone to get her and sort out her ... affairs." Her Daddy told her. It made sense that they had sent Papa she thought, it was logical to send a solicitor to do that sort of thing.

"Oh." She replied, berating herself for the lack of original things that she could think of to say right now.

"Miss Berry, in the light of this tragedy, you are excused from school until you feel up to coming back." Principal Figgins' told her as he broke the silence that had once again overtaken the office. "Your Father has requested that your sister be enrolled here too so I will see to having her transcripts transferred. I'm so sorry for you loss."

Miss Pillsbury looked at Rachel. She could see that she was having a hard time with this. "Rachel, if you ever want to talk about this, even if you're not back at school yet, please come and see me." Rachel looked up at Miss Pillsbury; she looked a little dazed, but pulled herself back together almost immediately.

"Thank you Miss Pillsbury." She offered her a tight smile before turning to her Daddy. "Can we go now Daddy?" she asked.

"Yes sweetie, let's go." The Berry's stood up and said their goodbyes before turning and leaving the Principal and the guidance counsellor in his office. The next few days were weird for Rachel. She and her Daddy cleared out the larger of the two spare rooms and painted it in the same soft yellow that her room was in before they set up the new bed they had gone out and bought. Her Daddy had tentatively asked if she had wanted to go to the funeral for her Mom but she had shook her head and lowered her gaze. Why she had not wanted to go she didn't truly understand, but standing next to grave for a woman she had never met would not change the fact that she never would. Four days after she had been pulled out of school, her Papa and her sister arrived. Rachel had always known she had a twin sister and that she lived with their Mom but she had never actually met her or seen pictures so when Renee got out of the removal van that her Papa had driven, she had almost gasped. They were identical, right down to the freckle on her cheek. She watched as her Papa put his arm around her shoulders and walked over to them. He let go of Renee just as he reached them so he could pull Rachel into a hug. As he pulled away he cleared his throat and his husband gave him a soft kiss before they both turned to face the two girls.

"Rachel, Leroy," he began, "This is Renee, Ren, this is my husband Leroy and your sister Rachel." He turned to look at Rachel, "She prefers to be called Ren."

Rachel paused before she replied to take in this girls appearance. She was wearing worn in red converse high tops, dark blue jeans and a red t-shirt with a smiley face logo on it. Her hair was similar to Rachel's from what she could tell, but at the moment was pulled through a baseball cap with an O'Neill logo on the front. In short she was dressed like a Tomboy. Her gaze travelled to her eyes, she could see that Ren had been crying because her eyes were red rimmed and a little puffy. As Rachel was gazing at her she was taking in Rachel, Leroy and the house behind them. Rachel stepped forward and put her best smile on.

"Hi Ren, I'm Rachel." She said, holding out her hand. Renee hesitated but she quickly shook her hand before she replied.

"Hey, look I'm sorry." She said, looking at all three of them, "But I'm really tired, is it ok if I get some sleep? I promise we can do the powwow later." She half smiled causing her Papa to chuckle slightly. Rachel was a little taken aback at the way she had spoken but grabbed one of them bags off the back of the van and started to walk towards the front door.

"Come on, I'll show you your room." Rachel told her. Renee followed without a word. Rachel pushed open the door to Renee's room and put the bag she was carrying down by the door. "I'm sorry if it still smells a little like paint, we did our best to air it out for you."

"This is fine, thank you." Renee said. They stood staring at each other for a few seconds, "Listen Rach, I know you have questions and so do I, but I really am tired right now, we can talk later about anything you want..." Renee let her sentence trail off and Rachel couldn't help the slight prickle of annoyance that Renee had gone straight to calling her Rach, the only person who called her that was Finn, but she swallowed those feelings and told her to have a good nap before closing the door softly behind her as she left. As she started to walk down the corridor to her own room she could have sworn she heard muffled sobs coming from Renee's room.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Hey guys, here's chapter two, this story is all written so baring any unforeseen consequences I should be updating once a day until it's all done. Enjoy!

Chapter Two – The Calm Before the Storm

They didn't see Renee for the rest of the day, in fact the next time they saw her was the next morning. Rachel woke to the smell of pancakes wafting through her room. She frowned slightly, her Dad's never cooked. She didn't think they could. She got up, intrigued just as her alarm turned to 6am and her iPod started its playlist. She turned this off and walked downstairs before stopping dead in her tracks at the sight that awaited her in the kitchen. Renee was making breakfast but it looked like a bomb had gone off. There was flour all over the sides with tipped over boxes and caps of the two bottles of milk that she had got out of the fridge. She was also dancing ... and singing. Rachel frowned. Was this usual behaviour for someone who had just lost their Mother? Then she took note of the singing. She was actually really good, a little untrained perhaps but she had the same power in her voice that Rachel herself had. Obviously that was genetic.

"... And it's killing me to know you without having a chance to hold you when all I wanna do is show you how I really feel inside, you can run to me you can laugh at me or you can walk right out that door, but I can't be just friends anymore ..." Renee sang and then spun to face the door where she saw Rachel standing with her jaw open. "Oh ... sorry I get way to into my singing sometimes." She said with a sheepish smile. "Let's try that one again ... good morning, I've made blueberry pancakes." She offered Rachel the plate and then realised that she was staring at the mess in the kitchen. "Oh ... yeah sorry about that Mom ..." she frowned slightly, "Well Mom always said that the kitchen looked like a hurricane had gone through it after I had been cooking but I will clean up after myself."

"You cook?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah I love it ... how about you?" she asked as Rachel sat down at the breakfast bar and Renee slid her the plate of pancakes.

"Not really," Rachel replied with a small shrug, "We're pretty committed to take out ... well except for my sugar cookies." They stayed in silence for a few minutes whilst Rachel slowly ate her pancakes and Renee started to clear up.

"So Hiram, told me that I'd be going to McKinnly high with you ... what's it like?" Renee asked. Rachel swallowed the bite of blueberry pancake she had just taken.

"It's just like any other high school, main thing we're known for is the Cheerio's I guess."

"The Cheerio's?" Renee asked.

"Yes, the cheerleaders." Rachel confirmed.

"They're seriously called the Cheerio's? Isn't that incredibly cheesy?" Renee smirked.

"Yes but Coach Sylvester is anything but cheesy and they're not all that bad once you get to know them. We have two Cheerio's in Glee ... well there used to be three but Quinn got kicked off after Coach Sylvester found out about babygate." Rachel explained. She looked up to see the confused look on Renee's face. "Oh sorry, Quinn used to be the head cheerleader but she got kicked off the team when Coach Sylvester found out she was pregnant." Renee's eyes widened at this.

"Whoa, how old is she?" Renee asked.

"Sixteen, same as us."

"Wow, bet her parent's loved that." Renee mumbled as she put the caps back on the milk bottles and put them back in the fridge.

"Hardly, Quinn's parents made her move out, she's living with her best friend now."

"So what about you?" Renee asked.

"What about me?" Rachel replied, confused.

"What do you do at school?" Renee clarified.

"Well ..." she hesitated, whilst her Dad's knew she didn't have friends, that she was focused on her singing, they didn't know she had slushie facials a few times a week, nor did they know that people pretty much hated her but she couldn't really avoid telling Renee this as she would find out herself when she started at the school. She decided to just tell her about Glee, that at least was true, the rest she would let her find out. "Glee is pretty much my world at school. I'm the lead most of the time, the rest of the girls are Mercedes, Tina, Quinn, Brittany and Santana. Brittany and Santana are the Cheerio's and are probably the best female dancers we have ..." Rachel started to ramble on about the rest of the Glee members, detailing the strengths and weaknesses of each person. Renee watched with a half smile on her face. She knew Rachel's type. She was the girl who had to be perfect at everything, the driven one who you knew would get where they wanted in life. She didn't realise how telling it was that she knew these people inside out, she really liked these people although by the sounds of it, they weren't always that keen on her. Her grin widened slightly when she started talking about that Finn guy. Her sister was obviously crushing on him, might be more than a crush really from the way she was talking. She probably talked about Finn for as long as she talked about the rest of the Glee club combined before she switched to the teacher in charge of Glee, Mr. Schuester and how they all thought that there was something going on between him and the guidance counsellor, Miss Pillsbury. She was just telling her about the mattress incident when Hiram and Leroy came down the stairs, dressed and ready to leave for work. They smiled as they saw Renee and Rachel talking in the kitchen.

"Good morning ladies." Hiram smiled, "What smells so good?" he asked as he sat down beside Rachel.

"Renee made blueberry pancakes, Papa." Rachel smiled, she was in a good mood after talking about the other members of Glee.

Leroy made an appreciate noise as he too sat down. "Are there some for us?" he asked.

"Sure." Renee shrugged and put a plate in front of both of the men. Renee finished off cleaning the kitchen as the Berry's ate their breakfast. Rachel, who had almost finished when her Dad's came into the kitchen, got up first to put her plate in the dishwasher but was stopped by Renee. "I've got a sink of hot water Rach, just put it in there and I'll wash all the plates when the guys are finished." She smiled at them brightly. Rachel felt that twinge of annoyance again at being called Rach but mainly at the fact that she was being so ... helpful. It made Rachel feel a little pushed aside. She tried to ignore this. The girl had just lost the only parent she had known.

"Ok ladies, we're going to have to get to work." Leroy told them as he put his plate in the sink and poured two travel mugs worth of coffee and passed one to his husband as he too finished his breakfast and put his plate in the sink too. "Rachel, honey, you're off school for the rest of the week but you're due to go back on Monday unless you feel like you need more time off, try and help Ren settle in. Ren, Principal Figgins said that you can start school when you feel up to it, so let us know and we'll make the arrangements."

"Thanks Leroy," she paused and looked down to the floor before looking back at them all, "I promised Mom before she went into that surgery that I would live my life if she did leave me, I can't do that my moping around," a small tear fell from her eye before she brushed it away. "I think I should try doing that by going back to school if nothing else."

Leroy and Hiram looked at each, a little doubtfully. "Are you sure sweetie, it will only have been a little over week since the accident ..." Hiram trailed off. Renee just nodded. "Well ... if you're sure?" She nodded again. "Ok well, I'll call the school today and have you both put back to school on Monday."

"Have a good day ladies" they both said as they left together, leaving the twins completely alone for the first time. Renee broke the silence.

"So is Glee auditioning?" she asked.

Rachel didn't know what was wrong with her. Renee was a nice person. She was kind, considerate, she picked up after herself and made dinner practically every night but she was the exact opposite of Rachel a lot of ways. First was there difference in music. Rachel loved show tunes the most, she sang them all the time but Renee preferred country and soft rock so when they were watching TV together they had to flip as coin as to whether they were going to watch CMT or the movie channel dedicated to musicals. Rachel was up every day at 6am and other than the first day, Renee didn't get up until she had to and hated to leave the warmth of her bed. Rachel always wore skirts and nice clothes, usually made of plaid and argyle whereas Renee preferred the jeans and t-shirt look. Most of her t-shirts had funny pictures or sayings, usually of her favourite TV programs and the only shoes she had in her wardrobe were different coloured Converse and a pair of plain black heels. She found herself liking Renee most of the time and then something would happen and she'd feel really annoyed but she was determined to get along with her twin.

TBC

A.N. Please please please review, they really make my day :) Nicki xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Ren's first day has arrived :)

Chapter Three – Wait, There's Two of Them?

Monday rolled around and had Rachel driving herself and Renee to school. Rachel was nervous about Renee being in her school. She was worried she would tell her Dad's about what school was really like. Renee on the other hand was freaking out about her first day at a new school.

When she had first told Leroy and Hiram that she wanted to go to school this Monday, she wasn't sure she would be ok. She knew she needed to go on with her life, just as she had told them all but she really had no idea how she would really feel about it and now it had arrived she was on edge. Thankfully she had never been one of those girls that burst into tears when she got emotional but she had been tearful for the few days that she had been at her old home with Hiram. When she had arrived in Lima the day after the funeral they had for her Mom, she had been an emotional wreck, tired and sarcastic. She had locked herself in her new room and sobbed herself to sleep before waking up at 4am the next day having slept over a solid 12 hours. She had sat on her new bed in the clothes she had worn the previous day and stared out of the open window. Her biological Dad was nice. He had told her to call him Hiram or Papa if she felt comfortable enough ... she hadn't. She didn't really know them ... any of them. Rachel was nice, she was overbearing and used to getting her way and she could tell that she sometimes didn't like her but that was ok. She was sure that it was just the newness of it and she was also pretty sure that Rach had wanted to know her Mom and was a little jealous that she had grown up with her. She could understand that, she also thought she didn't like it that Renee called her Rach, but she thought that Rach suited it so kept calling her it, she would stop if she was asked to. So here they were driving to William McKinley High School for her first day. Everything went smoothly. Rach took her to the Principal's office, where they were both shooed inside by the harassed looking secretary.

"Miss Berry," the Principal acknowledged, smiling at her. "Good to have you back, I know Mr. Schuester will be over the moon to have his star back." Rachel smiled politely as he turned to look at Renee. "And this must be Miss Curazon." Renee smiled politely this time. Principal Figgins looked carefully from Rachel to Renee. "Well your Father's told me that you were identical twins but they didn't say there was no way to tell the two of you apart." He smiled widely, clearly impressed with his little joke. "Here's your schedule and your locker combination as well as a map. We were able to get you a locker next to your sister so she could show you around," he glanced at Rachel, "If that's ok with you Miss Berry?" he asked.

"Of course." Rachel told him.

"Your schedules have also been matched as much as possible however there are some differences." He smiled again. "Any questions?" he asked. Both girls shook their heads. "Ok excellent. Miss Pillsbury wants a quick word with you in her office but she has assured me that you will both be in time for second period."

Rachel and Renee stood up and left the office. They walked in silence down the empty corridors before reaching Miss Pillsbury's office and being waved inside. Miss Pillsbury didn't say much, just told them that she was there if they needed anything and asked them a couple of questions about how things were going before they were allowed to leave.

"Is everyone going to be so ... nice?" Renee asked as they walked to their second period. They both had English.

"Probably not." Rachel shrugged. "Well, except for Miss Pillsbury, she's always like that ... I don't think I've ever seen her mad ... except for at Sectionals." Renee nodded. She had been told all about what had happened at Sectionals and was actually intrigued to meet Coach Sylvester. The next few classes went as expected. They got a lot of stares at there being two of them and the teacher for Literature actually let a small squeak escape at the fact there seemed to be two Rachel's in his class. Rachel had rolled her eyes at this. Honestly! It wasn't as if she was THAT outspoken about her views on Literature. They had just arrived at the lockers at the beginning of lunch when Finn came walking up. He smiled at Rachel as he opened his locker and reached inside to put away his books from the first half of the day.

"Hey Rach, how's thing going? We missed you last week and all we were told is that you had a family problem." He threw his half smile at her and she smiled back. "I hope your Dad's are ok, I'd have text you but ... well I don't have your number." He finished sheepishly.

"Well we should change that right Rach?" Renee told her slinging her arm around her sister's shoulders and beaming up at Finn. Wow Rachel had said he was tall but this was ridiculous. Rachel was too happy at seeing Finn and that he had seemed to be asking for her number to feel any irritation towards Renee at first. Then she saw how he was looking at her, that was how he always looked at Rachel, he wasn't supposed to look like that at anyone else. "I think we scared him mute." Renee staged whispered to Rachel who couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face at this. Finn looked so adorably clueless.

"Finn this is my twin sister, Renee Curazon." She introduced. Renee grinned and stuck her hand out to shake Finn's.

"Call me Ren," She told him as he shook her hand a little dazed. "So YOU'RE the infamous Finn ... I've heard so much about you." Rachel quickly nudged her in the side but this just made her grin wider.

"Funny I've not really heard of you ..." Finn started but then quickly changed tracks, "Wait ... what've you heard about me?"

Renee smiled at Finn and was about to answer when SPLASH! Renee was hit with a slushie facial.

"Oh my gosh!" Rachel exclaimed as she saw Renee standing there, absolutely stunned but she didn't stay that way for long. She was absolutely furious and turned around to grab the arm of the beefcake who had thrown the slushie at her.

"WHAT THE HELL! YOU JERK!" Renee screamed as he fell against the locker, a little surprised at being called out about the slushie facial, especially as he thought he had thrown it at Berry. As he looked down he realised he had.

"Whoa Berry! Where did you find a backbone?" he sneered.

"My name is Curazon, Renee Curazon!" she yelled back, "And since when is it ok to throw a slushie in someone's face and not expect some sort of retribution?"

Karofsky's face turned to confused instantly after she had spoken and he looked behind her to see the real Rachel Berry standing looking worried with Finn's hand on her shoulder. "Retri what now?" he asked, "And how was I supposed to know you weren't Berry, you sure look like her?" he laughed. "Sorry about that by the way." He didn't even see the slap coming to try and stop it.

"Firstly, you moron, twins are supposed to look alike and secondly we look a lot like our Mother, you pathetic piece of scum and she died just over a week ago! Do you want to insult the way we look now!?" she yelled angrily. There was silence in the halls as the rest of the student body took this in. "I thought not," Renee growled, "Stay the HELL away from me or I swear to God that being the thickest moron in this school will be the least of your problems!" With that last insult, Renee turned and walked to Rachel where she grabbed her hand and pulled her away from Finn and into the nearest girl's bathroom. "Was there something about your school life that you maybe forgot to mention?" Renee asked, after she had checked all the stalls to make sure they were alone. Rachel met Renee's gaze and didn't flinch under the furious stare, despite how embarrassed she was that Renee now knew about how things were at school.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think that you might get hit with the slushie facial ... I guess it should have since we are identical." She didn't get to say anything else as the bathroom door burst open and Mercedes, Tina, Quinn, Brittany, Santana and finally Kurt came walking in.

"So it's true then," Kurt said, sounding a little bored, "There are two of them, just when we thought it was safe to go back to Glee." He sighed melodramatically. Rachel's embarrassment worsened at these words. Now Renee would find out that everyone in Glee hated her. She had tried to keep her tales about Glee solely about the others but now she was about to find out the truth about her sister. She turned a little pink at these words, refusing to turn fully red. She shot a terrified look at the new arrivals before turning her face quickly back to neutral. Renee noticed this and her already over heated emotions took over.

"You'd be Kurt I'd imagine." Renee observed as Kurt nodded, "Yeah well honey your jacket maybe authentic D&G but anyone can tell your boots are not authentic Ugg's so back the hell off."

Kurt started at this and then looked at Renee with a steady gaze. "I like her," he announced, deflating the tension in the room.

"Finn told us what went down," Mercedes told them, "Do you need any help getting cleaned up?" she asked. Apparently, if Kurt had decided Renee was ok, so did the rest of the group.

"Oh ... so I'm ok am I?" Renee asked sarcastically.

"Hey you just stood up to Karofsky and you're as tiny as Rachel is ... that makes you ok in my book" Quinn told her and the two Cheerio's nodded.

"Yeah that takes some g-guts." Tina smiled shyly.

Renee turned to face Rachel who was still standing in the corner of the bathroom. "Hey Rach, I won't tell your Dad's about this slushie thing but I really don't like it." She smiled crookedly, emphasising the teasing to her tone for the last part of the sentence. Rachel didn't know what to say and being speechless wasn't something that happened to her very often. She stood and watched as the other members of Glee hurried forward and started to help her clear off the slushie mess. Today she had worn two t-shirts, a longer sleeved one underneath which thankfully had not had too much slushie juice leaked onto it so the last thing Rachel saw before quietly leaving the bathroom unnoticed by the others, was Renee removing this and leaving the plain blue long sleeve t-shirt on. As she closed the bathroom door and turned to walk back towards her locker, she bumped straight into the solid chest of Finn.

"Finn!" she exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you ... well I wasn't paying attention, I don't think anyone could really miss someone of your height."

Finn smiled at her and put his hand on her arm before asking, "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I didn't get hit this time." She answered.

"That wasn't what I was making sure you were ok about." Finn told her. She looked up at his face and noticed the soft knowing look on his face. He was asking how she felt about her Mom dying. She realised for the first time since this had all happened that Finn knew how she felt. He had lost his Father before he was really given the chance to know him properly. She smiled softly.

"Honestly, I'm still not sure." She told him.

"And Ren?" he continued. Rachel spun on her heel and started to walk back to her locker, this time with Finn trailing behind.

"Renee is Renee, I'm not sure how she feels about our Mother. She wanted to 'live her life' so came back to school and well ... now the rest of the Glee ladies are cleaning her up now." She answered curtly.

"Didn't I see Kurt go in there?" he asked confused.

"Is there a difference when it comes to Kurt?" she asked, snippily.

"Rach, are you ok, really? Just because that was kinda ... bitchy for you."

Rachel sighed as they reached her locker and she shot a searching look at Finn before she opened her locker and finished sorting out the books that she had put in haphazardly after Renee had been slushied. "I wish I knew what it was. It's like ever since she's arrived she's been this really nice person who is so perfect all the time. She cleans up after herself and is always thoughtful. She likes all of Glee and they all like her, they accept her but have never accepted me. She gets a slushie facial and turns around to Karofsky, yells at him and everyone loves her!" Rachel's monologue had got steadily louder until she finally said, "And she cooks!" in a loud voice that made a few people turn and stare.

Finn paused before reaching over and pushing some of her loose hair behind her ear and saying, "But you can bake too. You made those really nice sugar cookies, I must have eaten about half of those you made for Mr. Schue." He reasoned. Rachel looked up at him, allowing herself to get lost in his cinnamon eyes before they were interrupted by Artie, Mike, Matt and Puck.

"Hey Berry, is it true there's two of you?" Puck asked with a smirk.

"Back off Puckerman!" Finn growled, turning his attention to Puck. Whilst there was an uneasy peace between Finn, Puck and Quinn, they still barely interacted. Rachel didn't want this to be the start of another fight between them so she quickly placed her hand on Finn's forearm.

"It's ok Finn," he smiled up at him and he smiled back at her, "Yes Noah, I have a twin sister and she has started here."

"Where is she?" he asked warily glancing at Finn, who was stood at Rachel's shoulder, glaring at him.

"She's in the bathroom, she got hit with a slushie facial." Rachel informed them.

"Wow on her first day! That's harsh ... who did it?"

"Give you one guess," Finn mumbled.

"Karofsky," Puck growled, "But why slushie the new girl?"

"He thought she was me," Rachel rolled her eyes as if this was obvious.

"You ready for lunch Rach?" Finn asked, trying to change the subject from her twin, knowing how she was feeling about this subject.

"Yes, let's go," she grinned, closing her locker and following Finn towards the cafeteria.

Back in the girl's bathroom, Ren wasn't feeling brilliant. After she had pulled Rachel into the bathroom and then had it out with her about the slushie facials, Kurt and Mercedes had made their way over to her and started to help cleaning her up. The rest of Glee had also made their way further into the room towards her but had stopped at various points to lean against walls and sinks. Somehow, in this change around, Rachel had disappeared from the room. She had removed the outer t-shirt she had and looked up to find her gone.

"Hey where did Rach go?" she asked, confused.

"She must have gone to find Finn," Kurt told her as he pulled the collapsible cup out of his bag and sat her down on a chair in front of the sink.

"Yeah she pretty much throws herself at him," Quinn sighed.

"Yeah even when Quinn and Finn were still together," Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Guys I appreciate what you're doing for me here, but can we please back off Rachel a little, she has been really nice to me ... despite the lack of warning about the slushie thing." Ren asked a little resignedly.

"We've just had a few problems with her, that's all," Tina mumbled.

"Oh believe me, I know," Ren smirked, "She's actually quite hard on herself about some of the stuff that's happened at Glee and believe me without realising it, she has told me everything that's happened, from baby scandals," she glanced and Quinn, "to solo hogging," she glanced towards Tina and Mercedes, "to fake makeovers." She finally glanced at Kurt. "I know she's not easy to be around ... I _live_ with her but can we try to keep the better bits of her in mind too?"

"Oh really? Like what exactly? Her voice? Because we all appreciate that honey." Kurt said sarcastically.

"Like how she used her voice to save all your asses at sectionals and at invitational's. Didn't she have to eat her words and get you guys to give her a second chance then? Well as far as I can see you're all still treating her the same." There was a pause as everyone considered this until Quinn finally spoke.

"Maybe you're right ... there's a lot that's happened from both her side and ours," she said looking around, "And we do all need each other now."

There was a murmur of agreement and the topic was dropped as Kurt and Mercedes stared discussing Beyonce as they helped clean Ren up.

TBC

A.N. Hope ya liked this, please review guys :) Nicki xoxo


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. So here's Ren's first Glee rehearsal :) hope it lives up to expectations.

Chapter Four – The Solo

Rachel sat with Finn on one side of her and Renee on her other side when Glee practice started that afternoon. Mr. Schuester came into the room and grinned as he saw everyone there.

"Afternoon guys," he greeted them all, "I hope we're ready to learn a new song today?" he asked and then paused as he noticed Renee. "Ah yes, this must be Renee Curazon," he smiled as Renee and then at Rachel. "Principal Figgins and Miss Pillsbury filled me in on your transfer to us, how was your first day at McKinley?" he asked.

"It was ... interesting," Renee smiled. Mr. Schue laughed at this.

"I'll bet it was," he said, "So are you here to try out for Glee too or just as moral support for Rachel?" he asked.

"I was kinda hoping to audition," she confirmed.

"Great! Well stand up, introduce yourself and your song and let's hear it!" he said happily. Clearly he was very happy at the idea of getting a new member for Glee.

"Ok, well, I'm Ren. I was raised in Akron with my Mom and current most played on my iPod will probably be Carrie Underwood, Kings of Leon and Garth Brooks." There were a few chuckles at this and Renee smiled. She looked over to where Puck was sat, "Hey can I borrow your guitar?" she asked. Puck shrugged and handed her his guitar without a word, before she continued, "Today I'm gonna sing 'Teardrops on my guitar' by Taylor Swift."

Renee strummed a few chords on guitar before she started to sing. Rachel knew that Renee was an excellent singer but she didn't realise she was quite this good. She had mainly heard Renee singing as she was joking around whilst she was cleaning the house or cooking, so seeing her like this and playing the guitar she could tell that she had the same talent that she did. Everyone listened to her sing in silence before a storm of applause at the end.

"Wow Ren!" Mr. Schuester smiled, clearly impressed. "It seems talent runs in your family," he nodded towards Rachel and then Renee. "Well I think it's unanimous that you're now officially in the Glee club!" he announced and everyone cheered again, except Rachel, who managed a smile. Mr. Schuester paused for a second and then clearly made his mind up about something as he reached into his bag and pulled out a bunch of song sheets. "In fact, this is out new song and I think it would fit Ren's voice perfectly. It's a song by Carrie Underwood called 'All American Girl' and what I thought we could do is sort of what they do on the video, has everyone seen it?" he asked. Everyone in the room nodded their heads. "Great well instead of having one person being all different types of careers, I think we should have everyone involved."

Mr. Schuester went on to explain his idea more thoroughly. As the lead, Ren would be in most scenes but she would only be involved in them during certain scenes. Rachel, Ren and Finn were in one scene together where Ren was getting married to Finn and Rachel would be bridesmaid. Rachel's smile had got very fixed at that point but she sang her way through practice with her usual flawlessness. Renee was singing the lead, on her first day with Glee? Mr. Schuester really was out to ruin her life. She had smiled as Renee had told her how happy she was about singing that song as Carrie Underwood was one of her favourites and then they had taken a break. Renee had been pulled into a conversation with Kurt and Mercedes about the song so Rachel escaped to go and sit on the recently vacated piano stool. She played a scale and then switched to the melody for 'All American Girl' just as she felt someone sit next to her. She smiled without looking up, knowing that it was Finn.

"You ok?" he asked quietly, watching as she played the piano.

"Yeah, I'm happy for her," Rachel replied with a less than enthusiastic smile. Finn reached out and took her hand, abruptly stopping the tune she was still playing.

"We still have our duet to practice," he reminded her with a crooked smile, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

Rachel gave him a bright smile at this. "Thanks Finn."

"What are friends for?" he asked as he happily pulled her into a warm embrace.

-

Rachel was quiet during dinner that evening. She played around with her carrots and barely said a word as she tried to make sense of how she was feeling. Her Dads kept shooting each other curious glances at this behaviour but beyond asking her if she was ok when they had first arrived home, they knew to leave her to sort out her problems on her own unless she asked so they kept a steady conversation going with Renee about her first day at McKinley High. When Rachel finally escaped to her room, she sat down on her bed and stared at the picture she had on her bed side table. It was the picture out of the yearbook of the Glee club. She had contacted the photographer and requested a copy, which she had then framed. These people were the closest thing she had to friends and she thought the world of all of them they, however, felt no such feelings for her. She sighed and picked the picture up, staring at the bit on the end where Finn stood right behind her. Next year this photo would have Renee in it too, probably holding her guitar, Rachel thought bitterly.

There was a small knock at her door. She quickly put the picture back on her bedside table and called for the person to come in. She had expected her Papa to be walking inside but inside Renee was there.

"Hello Ren," she said politely, "Was there something I could help you with?" she asked. Renee closed the door softly and turned to lean against it as she closely looked at her sister. Rachel needed someone to tell her this and it didn't seem like anyone else had the nerve or cared enough to do it so it was down to her.

"Rach, you need to tell Finn how you feel, it's as clear as day to everyone but you two that you guys really like each other, I don't understand why you won't just tell him," she paused, "You seem to go for everything that you want like a bat out of hell, I don't understand why you won't go for this with the same passion." Renee let the silence fill the room before Rachel finally responded.

"Who do you think you are?" Rachel asked quietly. Renee's mouth opened slightly. Of all the responses she had expected, this really was nowhere on the list.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Yes exactly, excuse you!" Rachel snapped, "You've known me for all of two weeks and you come here, spend a week with my family, all of one day at my school and you don't understand parts of my life?" she laughed, humourlessly. "Of course you don't! There's so much history between Finn and I that you have no idea of ... I can't just go up to him and tell him I love him when I know he's not over Quinn! Especially after some of the way's he's treated me in the past." Rachel shook her head and stood up to be eye level with the stunned Renee. "You don't know me so don't give me advice ... especially when I haven't asked for it ... now is there anything else because I'm really tired?" Rachel asked. Renee shook her head, "Good, well good night then Ren." Rachel said as she opened the door and gestured Renee out. Renee walked past her and paused before she was all the way out of the room.

"I think you're making a mistake." She told Rachel but carried on walking out of the room before she could answer. As Rachel closed the door to her room, the tears she had been holding in all day finally fell from her eyes.

TBC

A.N. I don't know about you guys but I feel sorry for Rach lol :) please review, thanks Nicki xoxo


	5. Chapter 5

A.N. People have been asking about maybe having Puck and Ren get together and whilst I hadn't originally considered that at all, I am considering either changing the last chapter to hint at Puckleren (he he he) or write a short one shot after this now. Anyways here's chapter five :)

Chapter Five – The Mission

The next day Renee had a mission. She was going to get her stubborn sister and that dumb but adorably sweet Finn together. She knew Rachel's fatal flaw, she knew what would push her to act but she didn't know if it would push her too far. The last thing she wanted to do was break Rachel, she wanted her to admit how she feels, but if she did this wrong it could break her. She pushed these thoughts aside as she saw Finn standing at his locker, looking confused at something inside it. Jealousy, she thought to herself, that was the emotion that would finally have Rachel spilling her secret to Finn. She took a determined breath and walked over to Finn. He glanced down at her as she arrived at his shoulder, glanced at her clothes (today she was wearing her trusty, faded blue slip on Converse) before giving her a smile.

"Morning Ren," he greeted, "How are you today?" he asked, turning his attention back to his locker.

"Not bad," she replied, "Yourself?" she asked.

"Just trying to figure out if the English homework was ..." Finn started, but Renee quickly cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, that's fascinating Finn but I need to talk to you about Rachel," she told him as he turned to look at her, surprise written across his face.

"R ... Rachel?" he asked before clearing his throat, "What about her?" He looked curiously at Renee as she leant against the lockers next to his and crossed her arms.

"See Finn it's like this ... I've had one day in this school and I can tell you're head over heels for her. My only question is why you haven't told her?" she asked. Finn took a book out of his locker, put it in his bag and closed the locker door before turning to look at Renee and give her his complete attention.

"I've not been the best person to Rach, I've treated her pretty awful at time if I'm honest but she a great person ... I don't want to hurt her again," he admitted softly.

"That's a load of crap!" Renee exclaimed, "You're scared, scared she doesn't like you anymore, scared she'll turn you down and scared you've screwed up, admit it!" she demanded.

"I ... well scared is ..." Finn started, trying to deny it.

"Come on Finn," she sighed.

"Look I don't know you," Finn told her, "Just 'cause you look like Rach doesn't mean I'm going to instantly tell you all my deepest secrets!" he said, a little angrily.

"As far as I can see you don't tell Rachel your deepest secrets either," Renee rolled her eyes.

"Yes I do!" he exclaimed, causing a few people nearby to turn and look at the two of them confused, he lowered his voice and hissed, "I tell her everything except how I really feel about her ... She's the most awesome person I know!"

"So tell her that!" Renee hissed back. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Finn dropped his gaze.

"I can't ... you're right, I'm too scared."

"Ok ... well ... I have an idea ... but I don't think you're gonna like it much ..." she trailed off. Finn looked apprehensive but gestured her to continue. "Rachel's main flaw is her jealousy ... if someone threatens something that she thinks is hers, she will snap." She told him.

"I don't want her to get hurt," Finn said, looking a little uneasy.

"The only other way is to tell the girl how you feel but you can't do that so you need her to tell you how she feels and the only way to do that is to give her a reason ... I'm that reason." She finished. Finn looked at her blankly, not understanding.

"You're what reason?" he asked. Renee would have rolled her eyes if she didn't know he really didn't understand.

"You go out on a date with me ... or pretend we're dating or even considering dating and she will tell you how she feels ..." she sighed, "She already hates me anyway, I think she thinks I'm out to destroy her life, I don't think she'll just stand by and let me take you."

"But I really don't want to date you," he said before his eyes widened and he quickly added, "No offence, just 'cause I like Rach so much!"

Renee chuckled and smiled at his panicked expression. "Don't worry Romeo, I don't take that personally."

-

Renee was really nervous that afternoon. She was on her way to Glee practice and she and Finn had agreed that he would greet her with a kiss on the cheek in front of Rachel so she could see what was happening and take action but she was starting to worry about it. She knew Rachel would be pissed off, in fact she was kind of hoping for it, but she didn't want to break her sister ... just make her snap a little and she knew she was walking a fine line with this. She paused outside the choir room door and took a deep breath. Here goes. She walked into the room and instantly saw that everyone was there, including Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury. Rachel was sat off to one side, smiling softly at the rest of the Glee gang laughing and talking. Her eyes sought out Finn and saw him stood watching Rachel. As she walked in he looked up at her and Renee nodded at him. It was now or never.

"Hey Ren," he smiled with what he hoped was a convincingly relaxed smile. Everyone seemed to look up at his words and watched as he stood up and walked over to her. "How was your day?" he asked before leaning over and kissing her cheek. The silence that filled the room after this small gesture seemed to weigh on their ears, making it seem like the whole room had suddenly been submerged under water.

"It was ok," she smiled at him, trying to ignore the rest of the room but the sound of a chair falling over and rushed footsteps running to the door made her look around just in time to see Rachel disappearing. Her heart sank and she looked up at Finn whose face had fallen as he too stared at the now empty door. "Well that didn't go as planned," she murmured.

"What the hell Finn?" Quinn suddenly yelled from where she was sat. "I can't believe you did that! And you!" she turned to face Ren, "That's your sister! The one who just yesterday you were asking us to cut her some slack and now you're what? ... dating the guy she's basically in love with? I never thought I'd say this but I feel so sorry for Rachel."

"Whoa, ok guys calm down, this may have been my plan, which obviously backfired majorly but I just wanted these two to stop running in circles and face their damn issues!" Renee told them.

"I'm going to go after Rach," Finn told them, heading to the door, "I've got to explain there's nothing going on ..." he mumbled.

"No," Renee said, grabbing his arm before he had taken more than three steps, "I'll go, this was my idea ... besides I think she wants to say some things to me ... this might give her the chance," she looked towards the rest of Glee, "Wish me luck?" she joked before walking determinedly out of the door.

"What I wouldn't give to be a fly on that wall ..." Kurt said to the silent room.

TBC

A.N. I think we can safely say that plan backfired lol, please review :) thanks Nicki xoxo


	6. Chapter 6

A.N. Thanks to everyone who is enjoying and reviewing this story. I feel really sorry for Ren now because everyone seems to dislike her lol anyways here's the next chap. Special thanks to gleakfreak123 for the really long reviews which any writer loves to get, especially when they make you smile so much :)

Chapter Six – The Consequences

When Renee found Rachel she was in the auditorium sitting in the front row of seats, staring at the stage. Since she had arrived at Lima, Rachel had practically always been happy and helpful and then yesterday the whole slushie thing happened and then Glee where she got the new solo ... and now Finn. She sighed to herself. Now she thought about it, it had been a stupid idea but she wanted to help. She made her way over to sit down next to Rachel, where they sat in silence.

"There's nothing going on," Renee said after about ten minutes of silence, "I wanted you to admit to him how you feel and ..." Renee tried to explain but this seemed to have finally pushed Rachel to the edge.

"I told you to leave my feelings for Finn alone! I told you there was more to it than you knew but you didn't listen and now things are even more screwed up than before!" Rachel stood up and started pacing backwards and forwards in front of the stage. "We have this complicated history ... more than anyone on even Glee knows about and we finally got to a space where we were great friends and he's happy to be around me without having to worry about Quinn and Puck and Glee and the football guys and now I just made a complete fool out of myself because I can't take the fact he might have been dating someone but not only that but he was willing to date you when he KNOWS how I feel ... and YOU!" she yelled , her voice getting progressively louder, "You know how I feel about him and what? You were just pretending to get a reaction from me? Well congratulations you got one!"

"Rach ..." Renee tried to speak.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Rachel exploded. "You do not know well enough to be calling me by that!" she yelled before storming out of the room. Renee sighed and sank down in her chair as she thought that she had, at least, been right about Rachel hating the fact she called her Rach.

-

Finn was miserable as he packed his bag away. He couldn't believe that he had screwed everything up with Rachel ... again! After Renee has left the room, everyone seemed to agree that having a practice today without Rachel and Renee was pretty useless, especially as everyone seemed to be upset about it. As he packed away his last book, he sat down in his chair and buried his face in his hands. This was so messed up.

"You should just tell her how you feel," came Artie's voice from the other side of the room. Finn looked up quickly, embarrassed to have been caught so vulnerable.

"I ... I ..." Finn stuttered.

"I know more happened with Rachel than we know and as much as she scares me sometimes, she is a nice person who just wants us to be all we can be," he told Finn.

"I know this, I knew it before all you guys!" he snapped, a little frustrated that people kept telling him the good points about Rachel. Hello? He already had that memo.

"So my point is it was a bad idea to try and get a reaction out of Rachel," Artie continued, ignoring the explosion that had come from Finn. "Just apologise and tell her how you feel."

"It can't be that simple," Finn sighed, "This is Rachel we're talking about, she's anything BUT simple."

Artie rolled his eyes at this. "She's not so complicated that she doesn't want someone to apologise to her when they've been wrong ... just trust me." He smiled and left the room, leaving Finn to his very confused thoughts.

-

Rachel stormed to her car after leaving the auditorium, she didn't even go and get her books from her locker. She had her keys, purse and phone with her so she wasn't going to waste time doing homework tonight with how she felt. She tore out of the school parking lot and straight home. Renee could find her own way home tonight. It wasn't long before she was blasting her iPod in her room and pulling out her laptop. She had to do something and today was the perfect time to angrily tap at her keys and add some more to her autobiography. She didn't know exactly how long she had sat at her computer before there was a tapping at her window but she knew it must be a few hours as it was now dark outside. Another tap came from her window and she stood curiously before walking over to look outside. She opened the window and looked down to see Finn standing on her lawn. She frowned.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed angrily at him.

"Rach please can I talk to you, I need to explain ..." Finn begged.

"Explain it to Renee, you guys seem to understand each other," she said bitterly and started to close the window.

"RACH!" he yelled, "Please ... just come downstairs for two minutes?" he asked.

"Why should I?" she asked back.

"Because ... Because if you don't I'll just ... climb up the side of the house and we'll talk in your room instead!" he said desperately.

"Finn Hudson! You'll do no such thing!" she exclaimed, horrified that he might actually try that and end up breaking his neck.

"Then just give me two minutes?"

"Fine," she sighed, "I'll be right there." She almost slammed the window but she didn't want to worry her Dad's, so she closed it quietly before slipping downstairs and out of the back door to find Finn waiting for her. She stood in front of him with her arms crossed tightly across her chest, waiting for him to speak.

"There's nothing going on between Ren and me," Finn burst out, "I have no interest in her because she's not you and I like you, I'm so sorry, I should have just come to you and told you. Everyone in Glee thinks I'm an idiot and you and Ren have a weird relationship as it is and now I've made it worse and I'm sorry about that too. If it makes any difference I really do think she was trying to help," he offered. Rachel didn't respond to any of this but just stared stonily at him. "Please Rach, I really like you and I know I don't deserve it but please can you give me another chance? Did I mention that I'm really, REALLY sorry?" he asked giving her a small smile.

"I believe you," Rachel finally said, causing a look of relief to swim across Finn's face but it was short lived as Rachel continued, "But I need more than an apology now Finn." She looked away from his crushed face and quietly slipped back inside the house, only to come face to face with Renee.

"I can't believe you did that! He just practically threw himself at your mercy." She said confused. Rachel didn't reply. She just walked straight past Renee and up the stairs, calling to her Dad's that she wasn't hungry and was going to bed early.

TBC

A.N. Don't hate Ren yet! I promise the next chapter that is called "Clearing the Air" will help lol ;) please review, thanks Nicki


	7. Chapter 7

A.N. Ok guys this is the second to last chapter, enjoy! :)

Chapter Seven – Clearing the Air

The next few days were tense at Glee club. Rachel wasn't talking to Finn or Renee and although she was talking to the rest, she hardly said anything anyway. This was particularly difficult when rehearsing the wedding scene of their new number. Mr. Schue kept trying to put that scene off but they eventually had to practice it and the parallel of scene was painfully obvious to everyone but Rachel smiled like she was supposed to and before they knew it they were moving on to the next scene. The weekend was equally awkward for Renee. She wanted to do something but wasn't sure what she could say to get Rachel to tell her exactly why she didn't like her (other than the whole Finn fiasco which she knew she would be pissed about if it was the other way around but then Ren was sure there was something else behind Rachel's upset towards her). It got to Sunday afternoon and Hiram and Leroy were going out for the evening leaving the two girls to get take out.

"Pizza ok with you?" Renee asked politely.

"Sure," Rachel shrugged. Renee slammed the menu down causing Rachel to jump and look up in alarm.

"Enough already! I screwed up and did something I thought would help you out but only made things worse, I get it ok? Why the hell do you hate me so much anyway?" Renee asked.

"I don't hate you," Rachel said, grabbing her drink and preparing to leave the room.

"Oh no you don't!" Renee yelled and ran to block Rachel's escape, "We're going to have this out once and for all!"

"Have what out? I have no problem."

"Like hell!" Renee threw her hands up in frustration. "You don't like me, just admit it!"

"What do you want me to say?" Rachel asked in defeat, "That my Dad's love you, that school loves you, that everyone in Glee loves you ... that Finn loves you. That you knew our Mom and I never did, that you can sing as well as I can, that you can cook and play guitar and dance and are so damn nice to everyone!" Rachel yelled, "Well congratulations, everyone thinks you're better than me and now I'm never going to have a chance to show the rest of Glee that I'm an ok person and you're taking my solo's so my high school career is going to basically be nothing. YOU HAVE EVERYTHING! Happy now?" she yelled. She wiped furiously at her eyes to brush the tears away. She didn't want to cry in front of Renee, she hadn't wanted to tell her any of that but she just kept pushing!

Renee was shocked. Did she really think that? She didn't know how to deal with this, all she knew was that she didn't want to fight with Rachel. Rachel was basically her only family, well her and Hiram and Leroy. She had to fix this somehow.

"Do you want to talk about Mom?" she asked. Rachel stared at her. This really wasn't what she had been expecting but she felt the wall she had been building against Renee fall down and she nodded before a small "Yes," escaped from her lips.

That evening the girls sat in Rachel's room, eating their pizza and watching old movies whilst they talked about everything from their Mom to school to Glee. They talked about music and theatre and what they wanted to do with their lives. Renee told her how she had learnt guitar from the guy who had lived in the apartment next to theirs and that she the thing she missed most about their Mom was their Friday night movie nights where they would sit and joke about the movies they were watching, or cry depending on the movie. That she missed her Mom's hugs. Rachel told her what it was like growing up with two Dad's, how she was teased everyday in middle school and then when she started high school the slushie facials started but it just made her more focused on becoming the star she wanted to be.

The subject they didn't discuss much, beyond Rachel telling Renee everything that had happened, was Finn. After Rachel had finished telling her about what she had said when they had gone to Vocal Adrenalines show, about Quinn and babygate, about how he had used her to get a scholarship and how he always seemed to be looking at her when he thought people weren't looking and how she had told him about the baby being Pucks, Renee still thought that she should give him a chance but she didn't push the issue. She knew Rachel was still sensitive about it and was determined to let her deal with Finn however she chose and not get involved any further.

-

Glee was much easier the following weeks. Rachel and Renee had come to an understanding and we're actually getting to be really good friends. Renee had helped this along by telling Rachel that if Mr. Schue ever gave her a show tune solo she would turn it down as long as she could have her pick of country song solo's. After a few weeks, it had become a usual sight to see the two girls walking around school talking and laughing together, something that the rest of the Glee club were very happy about.

"If she's happy then the rest of us have a chance to shine around here," Kurt and told Mercedes during a particularly hectic rehearsal. The one thing that seemed to be stopping the club from finally coming together was Finn and Rachel's relationship ... or lack thereof. Finn was trying to make conversation with Rachel during every rehearsal and whilst she wasn't outright ignoring him, she wasn't making it easy for him. Everyone had tried to get Renee to talk to Rachel about it, everyone except Finn that is who was seemingly trying to keep his distance from Rachel's twin, but Renee had stubbornly told every person that had asked her that she would not cross that line again. A few weeks after this had all happened, they had finally got their version of 'All American Girl' perfect and at the end of one particularly boisterous practice, Mr. Schue decided to tell everyone that he would be introducing a new duet in the next practice. At this Finn had looked hopefully at Rachel but she had refused to meet his glance and made her way to stand by Renee who was talking with Quinn. Everyone started making their way out of the room until it was just Renee, Rachel and Quinn. Quinn decided she had finally had enough.

"Ren, do you think I could just have a quick private word with Rachel?" she asked sweetly, causing Rachel's eyebrow to shoot upwards in surprise. Renee hesitated slightly before smiling at them and leaving them alone in the practice room. Rachel turned to look at Quinn and Quinn decided she just had to say this, like ripping off a band aid, it was painful but you always felt better afterwards. "How long are you going to keep torturing Finn?" she asked.

Rachel paused, if possible even more surprised, "I hardly think I'm 'torturing' him," Rachel dismissed.

"Oh really?" Quinn asked, "The guy has been walking around like a zombie and only smiling when you actually talk to him ... it's kinda pathetic," Quinn told her.

"Finn and I are never going to work, you know it and I know it, I'm giving him an out," she shrugged dropping her gaze to her shoes. This was stupid, really stupid.

"Listen Rachel, and listen good because I'm only going to say this once ok?" she asked, making sure to have Rachel nod before she spoke, "I messed up with Finn and maybe that was a good thing for us because we weren't right for each other ... but you guys are different. You care about each other, that's enough. Think about it." Before Rachel could even reply she was out of the door, leaving Rachel to her very confused thoughts.

TBC

A.N. Please review guys, thanks Nicki


	8. Chapter 8

A.N. Sorry It's a little later than normal but I've been running around all day after three nephew ranging from five months to three years so been really busy lol, hope you enjoy the last part :)

Chapter Eight – The Beginning in the End

The next day saw Ren arrive at the choir room first. She smiled as she saw Puck's guitar leaning against the chair and quickly picked it before she started playing "Tell Her About It" by Billy Joel. She was singing along, so into what she was doing that she didn't notice Puck entering the room. He took one look at her and broke into a wide smile.

"Tell her about it! Tell her everything you feel! Give her every reason to accept that you're for real! Tell her about it! Tell her all your crazy dreams! Let her know you need her, let her know how much she means!" Ren sang loudly.

"Yo Cain, not very subtle are ya?" he smirked about her song choice. Renee had been startled by Puck's arrival and had spun around to face him as he had started talking but she immediately smirked back, undeterred by his biblical insult.

"Listen up Fonz," she insulted right back, "Billy Joel songs are classics ..." then she paused, "But thanks for the warning, I hadn't thought about that and you're right."

Puck's eyebrow raised as she didn't even pause before the insult slipped from her lips, she was something else, she had the looks and talent of Berry with none of the high maintenance. She put his guitar back down and sat down on one of the chairs as Puck came to sit next to her.

"So ..." he began, "You Jewish too?"

-

Finn was determined. He hadn't been this determined since he had driven to Sectionals after he had talked to Mr. Schue. Today he was going to get Rachel to talk to him and say more than just hello. He walked down the nearly deserted hallways a little later than usual as his math teacher had kept him behind to talk about his grades. As he turned the corner to the practice room and reached forward to open the door he collided with someone else who was also about to enter the room.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, steadying himself and the small person who had nearly been knocked to the floor but any further apologies or explanations were caught in his throat as he looked down into the deep brown eyes of Rachel Berry.

Rachel paused, not knowing what to say before she finally mumbled a quick, "That's ok," and started to open the door but Finn snapped himself out of his stupor and reached for Rachel's hands, stopping this action and leaving the door open enough that everyone inside stopped to look and see who was coming in but neither Rachel nor Finn noticed this. He took both of them in his own and looked at her beseechingly.

"Rach, I miss you," he told her, his eyes not leaving her as she looked back up at him, "I made another huge mistake but can this fight be over now?" he begged.

"We're not fighting ..." Rachel started but Finn interrupted.

"No we're not, this is worse, way worse," he squeezed her hands slightly as if trying to emphasise his point. "You don't talk to me or look at me, you can barely even sing with me!" he exclaimed. "I miss you looking at me and _seeing _me, I miss teasing you and I how you make me feel when we sing together and it's my stupid fault ... again." Finn sighed at this and looked down at his feet for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking back into her eyes, "Ren was right about one thing, I was so scared to tell you how I feel but now I'm more scared you'll never know so here it is ... I love you Rach, to me you're perfect."

Had either of them been paying attention they would have heard the muffled gasps of shock and happiness coming from different Glee members but as it was, they only had eyes for each other.

"You ... y ... you love me?" Rachel asked.

Finn smiled and nodded emphatically as he replied, "Yes." He let go of one of her hands and lifted it to cup her face. "I don't expect you to feel the same, I mean I've been pretty awful to you but I'm gonna wait a long time to convince you I'm serious and hopefully have you tell me you feel the ..."

This time Rachel interrupted Finn, but not with words. She broke into a wide smile, took a fistful of his shirt and pulled him down into a fierce kiss. Finn steadied himself, a little shocked at her reaction but quickly started to kiss her back however they broke apart as there came a sudden loud cheer from the practice room. They both looked into the room to realise that they had been entertaining an audience the whole time. Rachel flushed in embarrassment and went to step back but Finn lifted her from the floor and knocked the door shut with his foot to give them some privacy.

"Finn! Put me down!" Rachel exclaimed whilst unable to stop the giggles that were escaping from her. He did, smiling widely as he looked down at her.

"So does this mean you'll be my girlfriend?" he asked, teasingly as he kept her close to him in a loose embrace.

"Maybe ..." she drawled and then laughed at the pout that had appeared on his face, "Yes I'll be your girlfriend."

Finn kissed her softly and mumbled, "Good answer," against her lips before leaning in for a deeper kiss.

This time Rachel broke the kiss and she smiled at Finn, "Oh and Finn?" she said, waiting for his raised eyebrow before she continued, "I love you too."

Five minutes later both Finn and Rachel walked into the practice room, holding hands with wide smiles on their faces, ready to endure the Glee club jibes at their new relationship.

The End.

A.N. Ok guys if you've liked this then please leave me a review ... or even if you haven't so I can improve for the future :) Thanks Nicki


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